North Korea boasts of ‘world’s strongest missile’ after rare video shows launch of new ICBM

The Hwasong-19 flew higher and for longer than any weapon Pyongyang has tested before – but experts say it’s too big for war

North Korea has boasted that its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile it test-launched on Thursday was “the world’s strongest”.
The “Hwasong-19”, which flew higher and for longer than any other weapon Pyongyang had previously tested, stayed in the air for 86 minutes and hit altitudes of 7,000 kilometres (4,349 miles), according to the Japanese Defense Ministry.
“The new-type ICBM proved before the world that the hegemonic position we have secured in the development and manufacture of nuclear delivery means,” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said while overseeing the launch on Thursday.
Its defence ministry released a rare video of the launch, showing the giant missile as it was fired towards space before later slashing down between Japan and Russia.
The launch came less than a week before the US presidential election and received condemnation from Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo.
On Friday, South Korea imposed new sanctions on 11 North Korean officials and four entities in retaliation for Thursday’s missile test.
Seoul accused Pyongyang of trying to flex its military muscles in a means to divert the world’s attention from the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers in Russia.
Despite North Korea’s boast that the Hwasong-19 was the “perfected weapon system”, experts say that images show the missile and its launch vehicle are both “oversized”, which creates doubt over its wartime mobility and survivability on the battlefield.
“When missiles get bigger, what happens? The vehicles get larger, too. As the transporter-erector launchers get bigger, their mobility decreases,” Lee Sangmin, an expert at South Korea’s Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, told the Associated Press.
Shin Seung-ki, head of research on North Korea’s military at the Institute for Defense Analyses, said the launch was likely a test to improve performance of its existing ICBM, possibly built with Russia’s help.
“North Korea will want to keep getting help like this, because it saves time and costs,” he said, before adding that it could also be Pyongyang’s response to pressure over its engagement with Russia.
“The intention may be to show that it will not bow to pressure, that it will respond to strength with strength, and also to seek some influence on the US presidential election.”
Kim Dong-yup, an expert at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said that while existing missiles are already capable of potentially targeting anywhere in the US, the Hwasong-19 is probably aimed at carrying heavier nuclear warheads.
“North Korea may continue testing to see if, during the final re-entry phase, the warheads can separate and each head toward individual targets,” he said.
Thursday’s missile test came as Washington warned that 8,000 North Korean troops are stationed in Russia on the border of Ukraine and that Moscow is preparing to deploy the troops into combat “in the coming days”.
The US and South Korea called on China, which has remained largely silent on the news of the military deployment, to use its influence over Pyongyang and Moscow to prevent further escalation of the war in Ukraine.
However, the Chinese government said the development is not its concern.
“North Korea and Russia are two independent sovereign states. How they develop bilateral relations is their own matter,” Lin Jian, spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said on Friday.
There is also ongoing speculation about what North Korea might get from the Kremlin for sending soldiers to fight alongside the Russian military.
John Sullivan, a former US envoy to Russia, told Japanese broadcaster NHK that Moscow could provide North Korea with nuclear and missile technologies.
“I think [Putin] is less concerned about the reactions in Seoul, Tokyo, or Washington and more concerned about the reaction in Beijing, which I don’t think would like to see the North Koreans enhance particularly their ballistic missile and nuclear weapons program,” Mr Sullivan said.
However, analysts say Moscow is unlikely to share sensitive technology with Pyongyang.
North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui met with Sergei Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, on Friday, and said that Pyongyang will stand by Russia until its “victory” in Ukraine.
The UN Security Council is expected to meet on Nov 4 to discuss Pyongyang’s latest missile launch.